Tiffany & Company - 175 Fabulous Years

175 years of a great American Company
Tiffany and Company
Here is a great video about what makes Tiffany and Co. special.
Every wonder where the Tiffany blue came from?
Watch this video and find out

Not With A Bang...You Know The Rest

So for those who feel that it is about time for the United States to become more like Europe...here's evidence of that happening now.

From Fabius Maximus

America Passes A Milestone!

We now have more people employed in government than in manufacturing.

Perhaps we will soon be something more like France where approximately one in every four people work for the Government or for a Government controlled business.

Vive Les Impôts!!!

Sports - Business - Ethics - Success

Why Can't Our CEOs Be Like Tony Dungy?

This article is too good not to post in its entirety.

Jim Donaldson -- If only the world of business was like the world of sports

Boaz Weinstein, who lost more than $1 billion during the financial crisis (as a trader for Deutsche Bank) will be departing to launch his own hedge fund later this spring.
—Wall St. Journal, Jan. 15

Are you kidding me?
Who’s going to fork over millions for him to invest – guys who were frustrated because they weren’t able to get into Bernie Madoff’s fund?

What I want to know is, why isn’t the business world more like the world of sports?
Rob Marinelli went 0-16 as coach of the Detroit Lions and – gee, what a surprise – got fired. The shock would be if another team hired him as their head coach.
Yet CEO after CEO has seen the value of their company plummet – sometimes into bankruptcy – but seldom seem to pay the price themselves, except to act magnanimous for not taking a bonus.

Business executives like to cite “extenuating circumstances” for their financial failures. Well, Marinelli was given bad players, thanks to the poor personnel decisions of erstwhile Detroit GM — and now “expert” television commentator — Matt Millen. And many of what few good players Marinelli had got hurt.
Well, too bad for him. Nobody cut him any slack. Nobody gave him any sympathy. Instead, the Lions gave him his walking papers.
Yet, here’s this guy Weinstein, whose misguided trades cost Deutsche Bank a cool billion, and he expects investors to flock to him?
He wouldn’t be the first.

John Meriwether was the genius behind Long Term Capital Management, the now-infamous, heavily-leveraged hedge fund whose implosion in 1998 triggered a global financial crisis that resulted in a Wall Street-led bailout that was required to prevent panic in the markets.
Yet, last March, the Wall Street Journal chronicled how another hedge fund started by Meriwether – only a year after the LTCM disaster – had suffered significant losses on mortgage-related securities.

Now, I suppose you could point to football coaches like Rich Kotite, Marion Campbell and Ray Rhodes, who were hired again after failing the first time around, and the fact that the NHL recycles coaches in a way that would make an environmentalist smile.
But, for the most part, the wonderful thing about sports is that the guys who call the shots are rewarded for success and pay the price for failure. Win, and you’re revered. Lose, and you get fired.
That’s true for most players, as well. If they put up big numbers, they get big numbers on their contracts. If they don’t, they could be out of a job – especially in the NFL, where most contracts have limited, if any, guarantees. Professional golfers only get paid if they make the cut. If they don’t, they’re out the money they spent to play in the tournament.

Compare that to Ken Lewis, the CEO of Bank of America, whose stock hit an 18-year low last week and is down more than 80 percent from two years ago.
In a recent memo to bank employees, Lewis explained why he decided to forego his bonus for 2008: “This was a difficult decision because we have worked hard and made progress on many projects that will create value for our company in future years.”
A “difficult” decision? Did he really, truly, feel he deserved a bonus? And would it be paid out of the billions in bailout funds his bank has received from you and me, the American taxpayers?

I have no doubt that Romeo Crennel worked hard in Cleveland. The Browns made significant progress in 2007, when they went 10-6, following an injury-plagued, 4-12 season in 2006. But they fell back to 4-12 in 2008 and Crennel got the ax.
Mike Shanahan won two Super Bowls in Denver, where he had just two losing seasons in 14 years. He was fired after the Broncos blew the AFC West title by losing their last three games. Hired to replace him was 32-year-old Josh McDaniels, the offensive coordinator of the Patriots, who’s never been a head coach.
Jon Gruden won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay in 2002, two years after getting the Raiders to the AFC championship game. He has had just one losing season in his last four years coaching the Bucs. He went 9-7 this year. But the Bucs lost their last four games and missed the playoffs, and so Gruden was fired Friday and replaced by 32-year-old Raheem Morris, who, like McDaniels, never has been a head coach.
In the NBA, teams are even quicker to pull the trigger. Six coaches were fired before Christmas – ho, ho, ho.
But, in the business world, the corporate fat cats, coddled by their obsequious boards of directors, continue to collect big bucks while their companies lose large amounts of money.

Look at the likes of Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide Financial, whose unbridled lending excesses helped trigger the mortgage meltdown; former Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O’Neal, and Charles Prince, the former CEO who paved the way for Citigroup’s precipitous tumble.
Those three corporate titans testified before Congress last year, attempting to justify their outrageously oversized compensation packages. Although their companies lost billions in the housing markets, Mozilo received $75 million when his firm, with all its bad loans, was bought by Bank of America; Prince pocketed $68 million; and O’Neal received more than $160 million.

“The obvious question,” Senator Henry Waxman of California asked, “is how can a few execs do so well when their companies are doing so poorly?”
Good question, Senator.
You might want to pose it to your esteemed Democratic colleague in the Senate, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, who, despite being chairman of the Banking Committee, accepted loans at special rates from Countrywide as a “friend of Angelo.”
In sports, you can win and still get fired. In business, you can lose, and lose, and lose, and not only keep your job, but often get a bonus.
It would be a better world if the world of finance was more like the world of sports.

My thoughts exactly.

Power Dressing the Swiss Way

Akris - Subtle Power Dressing at Saks.com

One of these days when my world wide empire really takes off I will be able to afford a dress like this from Akris.

Fashion reporter Christina Binkley of the Wall Street Journal has an excellent article on Akris and their unique business model. They design and manufacture clothes in Switzerland, one of the most expensive places to manufacture anything. And, they know exactly who their client is and what her lifestyle demands. They use fit models in real women sizes to create clothes that are actually wearable. The Swiss have a long history of doing things their own way, and the family owned Akris business keeps with this tradition.

Bling Biz News

A couple of interesting things are happening in the Bling Biz.

From Women's Wear Daily:

One Sparkling Sector: Demand Stays Buoyant For High-End Jewelry

— Top-tier jewelry companies aren't flinching in the face of the U.S. economic slowdown — and are proceeding full-speed ahead with their store expansion programs.

So even in this economy Graff, Chanel, Bulgari, Van Cleef and other high end jewelers are expanding. Recession or not, the expectation is that highest end luxe client will continue to shop.

But on the lower end, things sales aren't so sparkling.

From Idex:

Online super jeweler, Blue Nile reported that US sales were down 1% in Q1, compared to a 34% gain in Q1 of 20078. Demand for diamonds in the low end of $5,000 and below remains strong but in the $100,000 plus level demand is weak. Has the high end customer stopped shopping or just opted for the retail store schmooze rather than online efficiency?

While the company reported that first quarter revenues were $70.5 million, up 3.8 percent from the prior year, all of the increase came from sales in international markets, including Canada, the U.K., Western Europe, and to a lesser extent, market tests in Eastern Europe and Asia. Sales in non-U.S. markets were $5.7 million, up 124 percent from last year’s $2.5 million in the first quarter.

I think that the trend for international sales will stay strong due to the weak dollar.

Then again...some super smart people I know are starting to short oil and euros...maybe we're in for a stronger dollar soon.

Credit Crunch Commentary

Day after day, from Drudge to the NY Times, all we read about is the ongoing credit crunch and the inevitable recession.

Ms. Robinson, my favorite Woman of Experience, has analyzed the current economic client and come up with this helpful idea.

Credit Crunch Solutions #1 Rent a Wife

Using proprietary mathematical modelling techniques, Ms Robinson has employed sophisticated algorithms to conclude, with absolute certainty, that a high flying investment banker only needs a wife around, oh, four days per month tops.

Being a woman who is all about solutions, Ms Robinson is pleased to announce 'Rent a Wife', an idea so simple she may franchise it. Why own what you can rent? Wives with names like Flick, Tory, token Asian babe Amina and an appropriately chunky Nigella will be located in huge houses with mega-mortgages in Notting Hill, South Kensington and Surrey. They will have an annoying friend called Verity (the one that wears Crocs) and children called Persephone, Ludo and Corinthian.

The man can either buy a yearly pass (which will save him even more money) or pay monthly.

As Glenn says, read the whole thing.

Then we have this report from US News and World Report

Dude, Where's my Recession?

Out: Recession. In: Expansion. That's my quick take on today's first-quarter gross domestic product number, which showed that the economy grew 0.6 percent in the first quarter. Now that's not a robust number by any means, but it's not so bad given all the worry out there that the economy is headed off a cliff. Before you declare a recession, as many economic pundits have, shouldn't the economy, well, actually recess a bit—if only for a quarter?

With those IRS checks in the mail added to regular seasonal spending, Q2 might not be so bad.

Rodeo Drive - New Neighbors

WWD has reported today on my new neighbors on Rodeo Drive.

Avakian Bows in Beverly Hills

A quote from owner Haig Avakian refering to jewerly from VCA, Harry Winston and Tiffany.

"I think that L.A. as a market is quite underdeveloped," he said. "A lot of our clientele have already bought these classic pieces. They want something different."

The LA market underdeveloped? Is he high?

I think that Mr. Avakian is going to be dependent on tourist business from his Beverly Wilshire Hotel location. He's already been given a wonderful opportunity to donate a small item for an auction for a major Beverly Hills based charity and he couldn't donate or even be bothered to even meet with one of the board members. Mr Avakian's attitude may work in Switzerland but it isn't going to to bring in a loyal Beverly Hills clientele.

Caovilla opens shop on Rodeo Drive

"Beverly Hills is a key location to purchase luxury goods in the United States; we wanted to find a West Coast home where women appreciate Italian luxury goods," said Giorgia Caovilla, company vice president and daughter of founder Rene Caovilla. "The celebrity scene in Los Angeles is second to none and it was a natural place to open our second U.S. store. L.A. style has come a long way and we want a customer who appreciates how to wear a shoe from day to night."

My prediction, Caovilla, which has a ten year lease for the space next to Jimmy Choo will outlast Avakian.

We'll see....

Fashion Factory Fallout

Rising prices...food shortages...this week it's definitely all panic all the time....even from WWD.

Sourcing Peril Looms From Strife Over Food, Energy Prices

Labor unrest over soaring food and energy prices could soon trigger a spike in global apparel sourcing costs, forcing companies to raise wages to stave off starvation and rioting.

U.S. importers that rely on countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Pakistan for their product are trying to navigate in volatile and politically unstable environments. Their decisions are being played out as U.S. and international organizations scramble to provide emergency relief to millions of people who are struggling to feed themselves because food prices have surged an estimated 40 percent since mid-2007.

Meanwhile, in the Fashion industry, executive compensation keeps increasing. Here's just one example.

At J. Crew, CEO Mickey Drexler's compensation increased 22%, President of Retail, Tracy Gardner's compensation increased $1 million for a total of $2.6 million in base salary, stock options and an $875,000 bonus and EVP, Libby Wadle's total compensation increased by $420,000. Granted, J.Crew had a good year.

(I should add that this is the same Mickey Drexler who as the head of GAP took their revenues from $400 million to $14 million.)

But when I look at executive compensation all the way from the LVMH and PPR with their stables of luxe brands down to the single brand J. Crew, I can't help but wonder if the top 10% of Fashion Industry executives took just 5% less in compensation, would there be enough cash to give the average factory workers in Vietnam, Pakistan and Bangladesh and elsewhere enough or a raise to cover their increased cost of food.

Rio to the Rescue?

Uh Oh, more bad news about oil prices from Breitbart.com.

Oil prices to double by 2012: Canadian study

The report basically states that the rising demand for transportation fuel due to the growing number of cars in countries such as Brazil, China, India and Russia will cause prices to double in the next 4 years.

Rubin cites, for example, the recent launch of Tata's 2,500-dollar car that will allow millions of households in India to soon own automobiles.
He also notes that car sales last year were up 60 percent in Russia, up 30 percent in Brazil and up 20 percent in China.

Meanwhile Bloomberg.com has positive oil news.

Brazil Oil Finds May End Reliance on Middle East, Zeihan Says

Brazil's discoveries of what may be two of the world's three biggest oil finds in the past 30 years could help end the Western Hemisphere's reliance on Middle East crude, Strategic Forecasting Inc. said.

``The finds they've got so far are just the tip of the iceberg,'' Zeihan said. ``Brazil is going to change the balance of the global oil markets, and Petrobras will become a geopolitical supermajor.''

Lots of Luxe

Lots of Luxe News from WWD today.

Cash rich LVMH is adding another luxe brand to their portfolio with the purchase of Hublot. Why? Because they can.

Companie Financiere Richemont, whose luxe brands include Cartier, Van Cleef, Montblanc, Dunhill, IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre has had another strong year.

Goldman Sachs in London called the sale figures "a particularly reassuring set of results," in a research note Wednesday. "[They reaffirm] the resilience of the high end and watch segment in particular," the company added.

PPR, owner of Gucci, YSL, Bottega Veneta and other luxe brands had 20% growth in Q1 sales.

Even with the daily news full of reports about rising oil and food prices, sales of the most expensive clothes and accessories are increasing. Things just can't be that bad.

Heidi Klum - Cover Girl Clover

Let's face it, few of us are blessed with the superlative attributes of Heidi Klum. But now that she has her eponymous jewelry line, we can wear a little bit of Heidi bling. Beladora.com has a one of kind diamond clover pendant from the Heidi Klum Collection. This piece is unique because it is the only one made with diamonds on both sides. If you are looking for 16 plus carats on a sexy black silk cord with supermodel provenance, here's just the piece.

Mrs. Seal used some familiar motifs in her designs for Mouawad including the famous Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra Clover. Unfortunately for the glamazon, she was sued for copyright infringement. I don't know whether or not VCA has much of a case especially since the the clover has been a common motif in jewelry ever since the Victorian Age. We'll see.

Financial Times Reports on the Rising Ranks of the Rich

The really rich have been on my mind since last week when I read that David Geffen's yacht is virtually the same size as an Aegis Destroyer, and bigger than any vessel in the US Coast Guard.

Then the Financial Times reports in World's Rich Shrug Off Credit Crunch that around the world, the number of super rich is growing.

There was particularly strong growth of wealthy populations in the emerging economies of China and India, as well as those countries that have access to ­natural resources such as Kazakhstan.
Countries such as Brazil, Canada, Australia and ­Russia also each added more than 8,500 wealthy residents in 2007 on the back of the commodity boom.

The US is still home to most of the world’s truly rich. High net worth individuals make up 1 per cent of the US population, with 3.1m people claiming to be dollar millionaires, and 460 to be billionaires.

“but there is an indication here that the ­plutonomy model retained its strength through 2007"

Well, I for one am glad to read that the market for luxe products is growing and... I've looked up plutonomy so you don't have to.

Plutonomy: The branch of knowledge that deals with the production and distribution of wealth. (from the Greek ploutos wealth and nomos law)

Jack Welch Where Are You?

And all this time I thought that US multinational companies like GE were the true Masters of the Universe.

Apparently not.

General Electric jolts Wall Street with weak Q1 profit, fading outlook

Why China is the REAL Master of the Universe

I'm glad that the daily mail has finally sorted out who is the real Master of the Universe.

The global power shift from the West to the East is no longer just a matter of debate confined to learned journals and newspaper columns - it is a reality that is beginning to have a huge impact on our daily lives.

The dire warnings from the International Monetary Fund this week that the West now faces the largest financial shock since the Great Depression, while the Asian economies are still powering ahead, simply underlines our vulnerability in this new world order.

China is spending 35 times as much on crude oil as it did eight years ago, and 23 times as much on copper.

Every time you complain about the price of petrol being over £1 a litre, it is to the Far East you have to look to find the culprits.

From Kazakhstan to Indonesia to Latin America, Chinese firms are gobbling up oil, gas, coal and metals.

At home, it holds mass executions of criminals with bullets in the back of the head while transplant surgeons stand by to harvest their still pulsating organs.
Yet Western governments have been in such awe of China's looming power that their response has not been to challenge its abuses, but to try to silence their own protesters at home.

Many fear that things could get ugly.

There is only one thing worse than an unchallenged superpower - it is a superpower with a victim mentality, which feels the world owes it a favour.

And the bitter truth is that, after centuries of humiliation in foreign affairs, there is a nationalist mood in China that the country's time has come again, that it can again claim its rightful place as the world's most powerful country.

But Western attitudes will change as well, with a likely shift to the political Right. White liberal guilt, the driving force behind political correctness, will subside as Westerners feel threatened by the global order changing, and their supremacy slipping away.

Anti-Americanism will disappear as Europeans realise how much better it was to have a world super power that was a democracy (however flawed) not a dictatorship.

Meanwhile, also in the news...from various sources.

WASHINGTON — A Defense Department analyst and a former engineer for Boeing Co. were accused Monday in separate spy cases with helping deliver military secrets to the Chinese government, the Justice Department said.

Additionally, two immigrants from China and Taiwan accused of working with the defense analyst were arrested after an FBI raid Monday morning on a New Orleans home where one of them lived.

Chinese Spy 'Slept' In U.S. for 2 Decades
washingtonpost.com — Chi Mak's job gave him access to sensitive plans for Navy ships, submarines and weapons. These he secretly copied and sent via courier to China -- fulfilling a mission that U.S. officials say he had been planning since the 1970s.

China's intelligence services are running wild in the U.S. and pilfering advanced American technology, Joel Brenner, the new head of the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, told the Washington Times.

3,500 Chinese spy companies identified in Canada and U.S.

How China Steals U.S. Military Secrets A spate of recent spying cases opens the lid on China's aggressive military buildup. What's most troubling: It is based largely on U.S. technology.

You know what they say...the glass is either half empty or half full. I prefer to look at the positive side of all of this. After decades of consuming Chinese goods, you know...they sold us the rope and all that...well now they can now buy from us.

And believe me, I've got the products to sell them.

"The Hills" Are Alive With Faux Fashion

Talk about extending the brand,

WWD has reported that Whitney Port from MTV's "The Hills" reality TV show now has a label.

So along with other "The Hills" celebutards, Lauren Conrad and Heidi whatever her name is, we have another fine example of contemporary style and taste with her own clothing line.

Seriously, how ugly is this outfit...and who is the stylist that thought that these boots looked good....and stores like Kitson are going to carry these clothes...unbelievable.

Encore en Suisse - Baselworld - Fancy Yellow Diamond

Christie's isn't the only place to go for big jewels. Right now in Switzerland the Baselworld clock and jewelry show is in full swing.

If you are lucky enough to be going this year don't miss the largest Forevermark branded Fancy Yellow diamond by DeBeers being unveiled by Rosy Blue.

The oval-cut stone totals 42 carats and its facet is inscribed with a unique symbol and identification number, delineating it as a Forevermark diamond. The inscription is invisible to the naked eye.

At a manageable size of only 42 carats, this diamond will be perfect for everyday wear, non?

And if you are looking for something a little smaller, the photo above is of a 7.22 ct Fancy Yellow that is available at Costco.

Diamonds are Dearer

While we are watching commodity prices rise across the board, oil, corn, wheat. The same price increases have been seen in diamonds. Just look at what's happened to diamond prices since 2007.

As always the question is why?

From Idex online:

There appear to be five key factors that are driving diamond prices sharply higher: 1) solid demand from most markets, except the U.S. and Japan; 2) rising costs throughout the diamond pipeline; 3) a weakening U.S. dollar, the international currency for the diamond market; 4) a global rise in the price of virtually all commodities which has spilled over into the diamond market; and 5) stock market volatility, the last of which has caused some traders to move their wealth into diamonds, precious metals, and other assets that may hold their value, until the financial markets recover.

The big question is this: will these diamond price increases hold at retail, or will merchants negotiate them down?

I think the real question is can merchants negotiate the prices down?

Links from London

Links from London

Mrs Robinson brings our attention to a new economic crisis.

Here's a quote.

As Ms Robinson writes, yet more mistresses are being dumped outside stock exchanges all over the world. Friends report a fire sale on the steps of the ASX in Sydney with some good bargains to be had in relatively new stock. Here in London, they are to be found wandering in the vicinity of the Bank of England, dazed and confused wearing little more than scraps of La Perla and Jimmy Choos. Having been unceremoniously evicted from luxury flats in Chelsea, Knightsbridge and South Kensington many had left carrying what they could in their YSL Muse bags. Reports suggest that they are trying to organise themselves into a group and perhaps instigate a (high) class action for wrongful dismissal.

Linda Grant comments on French women, and why they look so different than British women.

Prada 2007 Net Profits up 65.8%

I don't know but I just don't get it... Prada's net profits were up 65.8% for 2007 as reported by WWD.

Apparently everyone else in the world is buying these products in order for the Italian Mega Design House to have such strong profits. And how very important these numbers are with an IPO scheduled for this year.

Sometimes I love the line, but this shapeless dress ($730) and "Virginia Woolf on an Acid Trip" fantasy shoes, both with a bit of a 1920's aesthetic from Neiman Marcus just aren't on my list of must haves.

Of course there are other brands that contribute to the huge profits; Church's Shoes and Miu Miu which I find to be a just little trop precieux.

24K Skin Treatment - Stupendously Stupid

And while gold is trading near record highs....

Some people will believe anything. Seriously.

From the Daily Mail.

But a beauty company has promised that the precious metal - which it is using in a facial - has many benefits, leaving customers looking younger and banishing their wrinkles.
The Luxe 24 Karat Gold Facial uses the highest grade of gold leaf in an 80-minute procedure which costs £180. The flakes of gold leaf are laid on the face, before being massaged in.

Anyone who is so gullible as to believe that smearing their face in gold will make them look younger deserves to be robbed of the 180 pounds.